Wolves contribute to disease control in a multi-host system

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Tanner, E., White, A., Acevedo, P., Balseiro Morales, Ana María, Marcos, J., Gortázar, Christian
• Other Authors: Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Research 2019
• Subjects: Sanidad animal; Infectious agents; Wolves; 3109 Ciencias Veterinarias; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10612/19293; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44148-9; https://doi.org/10.1038/S41598-019-44148-9

[EN] We combine model results with field data for a system of wolves (Canis lupus) that prey on wild boar (Sus scrofa), a wildlife reservoir of tuberculosis, to examine how predation may contribute to disease control in multi-host systems. Results show that predation can lead to a marked reduction in the prevalence of infection without leading to a reduction in host population density since mortality due to predation can be compensated by a reduction in disease induced mortality. A key finding therefore is that a population that harbours a virulent infection can be regulated at a similar density by disease at high prevalence or by predation at low prevalence. Predators may therefore provide a key ecosystem service which should be recognised when considering human-carnivore conflicts and the conservation and re-establishment of carnivore populations SI This is a contribution to MINECO Plan Nacional grant WILD DRIVER ref. CGL2017-89866 and EU-FEDER. Eleanor Tanner was supported by The Maxwell Institute Graduate School in Analysis and its Applications, a Centre for Doctoral Training funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant EP/ L016508/01), the Scottish Funding Council, Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. Pelayo Acevedo was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and the University of Castilla-La Mancha through a “Ramón y Cajal” contract (RYC-2012-11970). This research was also supported by Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica, through Fundación Biodiversidad